Schumacher Expecting Close Fight for Pole

World Champion Michael Schumacher is expecting a close fight for pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix after finishing in fourth place in today's practice.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen fired McLaren back into contention to remind Ferrari and Schumacher that they have a fight on their hands in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

While Ferrari ruled the morning, their rivals looked far more competitive in the afternoon heat with German Ralf Schumacher second quickest in the Williams, ahead of Australian Jaguar driver Mark Webber.

Schumacher, nearly a second faster than anyone else in the morning, was fourth quickest in a second session run at roughly the same time as Sunday's race and which clearly favoured Michelin-shod cars.

The German was the only driver on Bridgestone tyres in the top six in the afternoon.

"It was an interesting Friday session, we did all the work we wanted to do," said Schumacher. "The car seems to be working well and I am quite happy with its balance, but there is still room for improvement. It certainly seems to be a step forward from what we have seen in the past here.

"But the signs are that it will be a tight competition tomorrow."

Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello was 10th quickest, but said he believed Ferrari were still ahead of their rivals.

"We had a bigger advantage over the others in the morning session, but I am not concerned about our performance this afternoon, as we ran the whole time in race configuration and we can be happy with our work," said Barrichello. "I think we still have the edge over our rivals."